Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Typing Frenzy; Reading Slump

Day 1 of National Novel Writing Month and the site is seriously logjammed. You have to feel for the poor techies dealing with an apparently overwhelming number of hopeful novelists all vying for space in the word-count line. Then again, isn't that what computer technicians love? Oh, boy, a mess to untangle! Or, not.

My current word count: 2560. It's wrong, though. My word processor inflates the word count. Fortunately, the Nano experts did provide ample warning, last year, and I was able to reach the necessary 50K by padding a little (writing beyond 50,000 words, according to my word processor's counting feature, that is).

Words of wisdom to other Nanoing people: Quit reading my blog and write. Also, coffee is good but always take time to exercise, if only for the chance to see buff males doing likewise.

Number of pages read, today: Negative 3. I am not kidding. I am back on Ambien and the few pages I managed to read, last night, were blacked out. Darn. It's awful when you flip open to the bookmarked page and say, "Huh, don't remember that," flip back a page, and another, and another. No words jogged my memory till the page at which I stopped mid-afternoon, whilst collecting son from school. Darn. There is a downfall to Ambien. However, I decided said sleep agent was definitely not causing the now-eradicated possible side-effect that I accused it of causing. So . . . sleep I shall, with a little aid. I didn't get much shut-eye, but some is better than none.

Why am I writing an entry to my blog when I could be working on my brilliant novel? Did I forget to tell you the story already sucks? Last year's novel had a much, much better beginning and it was, quite frankly, total crap. So, a break is in order. In fact, probably a lot of breaks will be in order.

Back to work. Or, maybe I'll check on the laundry, maybe fold a little. Oh, yeah, the kid needs a little nudge to do his homework and there's probably somebody out there who requires a bolstering email or maybe I should unload the dishwasher because it hurts to run into that open dishwasher door and it's kind of silly to leave the drying towel there without actually using the thing so I should definitely dry the dishes and reload . . .

Bookfool is practicing avoidance technique. Can you tell?

6 comments:

  1. Oh, Bookfool, I laughed at your description of reading a negative 3 pages. Only laughed because it's happened to me, too. One night I was ready for bed and took the Ambien. Then I couldn't quit thinking about the book I was reading. It was suspenseful and there were only 30 pages left. I got up and finished the book. In the morning, still in bed, stretching, I think, "Oh goody, I get to read the last 30 pages of my book today and find out what is happening." I walk out in the kitchen and there on the counter is my book with NO bookmark. With a little probing I remembered finishing it the night before, but I couldn't for the life of me remember what happened. Had to (or got to) reread it.

    Best of luck with your writing challenge. I applaud you for attempting this.

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  2. Anonymous9:40 PM

    Good luck!!

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  3. Booklogged,

    I guess it can be good or bad to have to reread pages. I'm not progressing very fast; The Thirteenth Tale is not as enthralling as I'd hoped.

    Thanks for the good wishes and the applause!! :)

    SuziQ,

    Thank you!!

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  4. Ganbatte* bookfool!

    I've just started The Thirteenth Tale, only about 20 pages in, but ok so far. Too much hype ruined it for you?

    *'Good luck' in Japanese

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  5. Hey Nat!

    Possibly the hype ruined it for me, but I'm leaning toward the nastiness of characters as the main reason. Glancing left, here, on my work table I can see a list of things I love and things I hate in novels (which I wrote to remind me what to write and not write for Nano) and one of the things I detest is "malicious, evil, unreformably nasty people." You'll find a few, when you get into the book a bit further. ;)

    Thanks for the luck. Are you having fun?

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